


Honeysuckle (1/3)

by fangirlfiction



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Friendship, Idiots in Love, Love, Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Relationship(s), Super Soldier Serum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 08:08:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13585899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlfiction/pseuds/fangirlfiction
Summary: y/n is childhood best friends with Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, and they are all inseparable from the start. So, what happens when Bucky and y/n join the war effort, leaving Steve behind? The events of Captain America: The First Avenger told through the eyes of the reader.





	Honeysuckle (1/3)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! So, I really wanted to write a reader insert based off the events of the Captain America trilogy, so I did, oops. The parts for the Winter Soldier and Civil War are already written and ready to go, and will go up soon, depending on the feedback and response to this story! As always, let me know what you think, and enjoy!

You roll over in bed, your eyes slowly opening to the morning sun. A feeling of nervousness sits heavily in your stomach, a result of the news you received yesterday. You would be heading overseas in a days’ time to begin your own journey as a woman in the Army. You suspected that there wasn’t much you would be allowed to do other than secretarial tasks, but the thought of having Bucky, and maybe even Steve if his lying actually worked, overseas fighting in the war without you made your heart seize in terror. Your boys needed you. Or maybe it was you that needed them.

They came into your life soon after they had become friends. A boy named Thomas had been bullying you nearly every day at school; throwing rocks at you, pushing you down, kicking dirt into your face, which was something that Steve eventually witnessed and wouldn’t stand for. He tried defending you, which only resulted in Thomas punching Steve and giving him a bloody nose, which was something that Bucky then witnessed and definitely wouldn’t stand for. Bucky came in, fists flying, and knocked Thomas to the ground in seconds. He helped you both up, and you three were pretty much bonded from then on out. It was a friendship that had shaped you in many ways, and was balanced by your three similar yet different personalities. You three were always there for each other, and you knew that you would do anything for them. You brought a unique female dynamic to the relationship, which helped shaped the boys into caring men that could treat a lady right.

And now it was hard to believe that two of you would be shipping out tomorrow, and the three of you would all be separated for the first time since your friendship began all those years ago. You rolled out of bed, knowing that you were meeting up with Steve and Bucky later that evening to go dancing. At some point in the last few years, the dynamic between you and Bucky had changed. Suddenly the boy that taught you how to throw a punch became a man that started to ask you out. You resisted it at first, worried about your friendship with both Steve and Bucky, but after a long talk with Steve where he assured you that nothing would change, you finally relented. So, for the last 5 years you have been Bucky’s best girl (a nickname that always split your face into a grin), and as Steve had promised, nothing had changed. You three still did everything together, except now you and Bucky were careful to never make Steve feel like the odd one out. Honestly, things have been better between you three since you started dating Bucky, because Bucky and Steve had always been the closest in your trio. They had a way of talking to each other without saying a word, and at times you had felt left out of what was going on. But now you and Bucky had a stronger bond, and Steve and Bucky were stronger than ever, and you and Steve had the same heart for saving people.

You pulled your mind back to the present as you finished doing up your curls, smiling at the reflection looking back at you. You finished getting ready with the joyous thought that you had some dancing to do.

. . .

You stood in the Expo Hall with your friend Julie, who you had dragged along to be a dancing partner for Steve. Your eyes swept the hall, looking for your soldier, and a voice from behind caused you to turn with a smile.

“Where’s my best girl?” Bucky asked.

“Bucky!” you squealed, as you ran to him for a hug. He picked you up and spun you, placing a chaste kiss on your lips.

As he set you down, he gave you a knowing look and said, “You’ll never guess where I found Stevie here.”

 You raised your eyebrows and looked to Steve, “Was he fighting again?”

Steve shrugged and looked at you while responding, “He had it coming, he was a jerk.”

You shook your head in disbelief and pulled Steve into a hug, kissing his cheek as you pulled away. “Who’s gonna keep you in line when we’re gone, Steve?”

Steve grinned and shrugged again before moving to introduce himself to Julie. After the introductions were made, we heard a change in the music, signifying the start of the show. You grinned at both Bucky and Steve, grabbing their hands to drag them closer. “C’mon, it’s starting!”

You watched in awe as Howard Stark introduced himself, and proudly showcased his hovering car.

“Holy cow.” You heard Bucky mutter next to you in amazement.

You looked at Bucky with eyes full of wonder, imagining what other inventions Mr. Stark had hiding in his mind. You turned to look at Steve to see what he thought of all of this, only to realize that he was no longer standing behind you with Julie. You got Bucky’s attention and asked, “Now where did he run off to this time?”

Bucky sighed and said, “Who knows, but I’ll go find him. You girls stay here and enjoy the show.”

You continued watching the show with Julie until its end, and still Steve and Bucky never showed. So, you told Julie to wait by a fountain and said you’d come back in a moment.

You wandered to the edge of the hall, and with pure luck you were able to spot Bucky standing and talking to Steve. You neared closer and caught the tail end of their conversation.

“Bucky, c’mon. There are men laying down their lives, I got no right to do any less than them. That’s what you don’t understand. This isn’t about me.”

“Right, because you got nothing to prove.”

I stepped forward into Steve’s line of sight and asked, “What’s going on?”

Steve and Bucky both look at each other before turning to me and replying in unison, “Nothing.”

I give them both a soft smile before asking, “So, are we going dancing?”

Bucky gives me a grin and says, “Yes, we are.”

He turns back to Steve and says, “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back.”

Steve retorts, “How can I? You’re taking all stupid with you.”

They both smile as they pull each other into a hug, and you start to tear up at their display of affection. When Bucky steps back, Steve turns to you and says earnestly, “Be careful, y/n.”

Tears slip down your cheek as you pull him into a bone crushing hug. “Oh Stevie, you know I can hold my own. I’ll see you soon.”

You kiss his cheek as you pull away, and he smiles at you as you turn to Bucky. Bucky takes your hand in his and you both turn away from Steve, smiling sadly, not knowing if you’ll ever see him again.

. . .

You were introduced to Agent Carter soon into your service, due to your affinity for codebreaking. Agent Carter invited you to work more closely with her, and you happily accepted. At the time that you agreed to assist her, you had no idea what you were getting yourself into. Agent Carter, or Peggy as she always reminded you, was a part of a group called the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Due to your close ties with Peggy, you were given security clearance to find out about Project Rebirth. Project Rebirth was a project that was designed to create an army of super soldiers, enhanced with a special serum created by Dr. Abraham Erskine. After only a week of learning about the project, Peggy approached you with a question that would change everything.

. . .

You were sitting in your tent writing a letter to Bucky when you heard her come in. You looked up to see Peggy holding a finger to her lips and motioning for you to follow her. You get up with a confused look on your face and follow her to a secluded area on the edge of the base you were currently on.

“y/n,” Peggy begins, “I have something very important to ask you.”

You look at Peggy with a questioning look and respond, “Okay…”

Peggy takes a deep breath and says, “I need you to listen to me and take in the gravity of what I’m about to tell you.” You nod and she continues, “We have reliable intel that there will be an assassination attempt on Dr. Erskine’s life soon. We don’t know exactly when, but there’s a traitor amongst us. Dr. Erskine has been made aware, and has decided on his own course of action. He is worried that Colonel Phillips, but more importantly the United States government, will abuse the super soldier program. He is worried about the implications of only one nation amongst many to have that much power. For that reason, he will not document how to recreate the super soldier serum. As it stands, he has enough serum currently to enhance two people. Plans are in motion already for who the first soldier will be, but he would like you to be the second.”

Your eyebrows shoot up so high that they practically disappear in your hairline. You suppress a disbelieving laugh while responding, “Me?! Why me?”

Peggy grabs your hands and looks at you seriously before replying, “Because we have been watching you, y/n. You enlisted to protect the people that you love, and we believe that your heart for others is your strongest asset. We believe that the serum’s effects wouldn’t corrupt you. Instead, we think they would amplify your assets and make you even better”

You pause for only a second before answering, “Yes, I’ll do it.”

Peggy nods once and says, “Good. For security and secrecy reasons, you will be sent on a mission tomorrow that will serve as your cover story. While on this mission, you will receive the serum from Dr. Erskine and a trusted partner. You are to speak of this to nobody, especially not your friends Bucky and Steve. Very few people know about this, and if word gets out then we will all be tried for treason.”

You nod, the gravity of the situation weighing on you heavily. Peggy squeezes your hands before letting go and says, “Get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for you.”

You walk back to your tent in a daze, wondering what you just agreed to. The procedure alone could kill you, and there is no telling what the effects will be long-term. You sit at your desk again, too distracted now to write. Bucky and Steve would both kill you if they knew that you just agreed to be a secret lab rat, but you knew that this was important. Peggy wouldn’t ask this of just anyone. She trusted you, and you knew that you wouldn’t betray that trust, even if it meant keeping secrets from the two most important people in your life. You decided to call it a night and climbed into bed, and you drifted off to sleep thinking about the two best people you’ve ever known.

. . .

You wake up the next morning with a sense of déjà vu. Only a few weeks ago you had woken up nevrous, yet excited, for your future in the Army. Now, you were feeling all of this again, knowing that things were really going to change for you.

You get ready quickly, and hurry to Peggy’s tent for the debriefing on your mission. Peggy tells you that you will be going to a small city in the Kansas countryside where a very small team would give you the serum. Within the hour you are packed up and sent on a plane alone, the seriousness of what you agreed to hitting you hard. Your trip to Kansas provided you with time to think, and your mind automatically drifted to Bucky and Steve. Letters from Bucky were rare, but you knew that he was on the frontlines and likely had little time to write. At least, that’s what you told yourself so you wouldn’t worry over him every waking moment. But you worried about Steve too. You received letters from him much more often and they always reminded you of home. He told you about how he spent his time, and even admitted that he stopped trying to join the Army, which brought you a lot of relief. At least one of you would survive this war, and you were glad that at least it would be Steve.

Your mind drifted to other memories the three of you shared, like staying up late and telling each other your dreams or watching Steve draw or listening to Bucky tell stories. You knew that the two of them didn’t always have food to eat, so you would go to Steve’s apartment with bags full of groceries and cook the boys meals for the week. Those nights were usually your favorite because you would put all the meals on the table and have a feast that rivaled Thanksgiving. You can’t count how many times you ate until you were stuffed and sleepy, all three of you falling asleep together on the floor, limbs tangled together. You always woke up first in the morning, incapable of sleeping once the sun rose, and prepared a breakfast just as large as the dinner the night before. Eggs, bacon, sausage, and usually some pastries from a bakery down the street. They boys would wake up to the smell of coffee, sleepy smiles on their faces, and you’d eat together before Bucky had to leave for work. But of course, this was all before the war, when your family had money to spare and food wasn’t rationed. After Pearl Harbor, the feasts occurred less and less, until eventually you and Bucky enlisted and left.

Your mind was pulled back to the present as you felt the plane descend, finally in Kansas. You stepped out of the plane, and you were greeted by a man in a white lab coat and glasses.

He smiled at you and said, “I am Dr. Abraham Erskine.  You must be y/n.”

You reached out to shake his waiting hand and nodded to confirm your identity, too nervous to speak. He continued, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Agent Carter has done nothing but praise you since meeting you.”

Your cheeks reddened at the compliment and you finally spoke up. “I hope she didn’t talk me up too much, I don’t want to disappoint.”

Dr. Erskine shook his head and replied, “Oh, nonsense! I’m sure she didn’t talk you up enough. I am sure that you have a lot of questions on what is going to happen in the next 24 hours, so if you’ll follow me to the lab, we’ll try to answer everything we can.”

You follow Dr. Erskine to a building that looks like an abandoned barn. Your eyes survey the land around you and note that there are no forms of life anywhere. The only thing you see for miles is a lot of grass, trees, and corn. Your eyes move back to the direction of the barn, skeptical that a high security lab is inside, but once you reach the door Dr. Erskine stops to enter multiple passwords for access. The door opens slightly and he pushes it open further to allow you inside, and then closes it behind you. You follow him down a hallway to another locked door, and then you are ushered through and onto the landing of a set of stairs. You look in confusion at the stairs that travel down into the ground, realizing that the lab must be under the barn. _Of course_. You follow him down the stairs and through a few more locked doors until you step into what you assume is the lab. It’s modest with electrical equipment, a lab table, and only two other people inside. You notice a generator in the back that takes up a large portion of the lab itself. Your thoughts are interrupted by Dr. Erskine leading you over to a man inspecting the controls on one of the machines.

The man turns to you and you recognize him from somewhere, you just can’t quite place where. He’s tall and handsome, and his dark hair immediately makes you think of Bucky. The man reaches out a hand and says, “Hello, I’m Howard Stark.”

You gasp as he says this, because his name was absent from the few files you read about Project Rebirth. You meet his hand and respond, “I’m y/n.” He nods and turns back to the machine, tinkering with it again.

Dr. Erskine leads you to the lab table and helps you sit up on it.  The nurse immediately comes over and begins taking your vitals as the doctor starts to talk to you again. “The procedure shouldn’t take long and should take immediate effect. You should expect pain, but if it becomes too much for you then we can stop. You are the first person to receive the serum, so we aren’t going to give you the full dose. With your size and our careful calculations, we have figured out a dosage that is more appropriate for you. It should have the same effect and strength as a full dose, but it should be more adapted to your body.”

You nod your head and he continues with the explanation of the process, explaining the dangers and issues you may face. Your nervousness starts to take over though, and you have a hard time concentrating on what he’s saying. Instead, you focus on breathing and not freaking out when you are so close to the end.

Dr. Erskine grabs your hands in his and says, “I know that you are afraid. But I also know that you are right for this. You can still say no, but we are ready if you are.”

You take a deep breath and squeeze his hands, “I’m ready.”

The next few minutes go by in a haze, with Dr. Erskine and Mr. Stark hooking you up to the machines and making sure everything is ready. You don’t even remember the prick of the needle from the dose of penicillin you received. But finally, the time has come, and you are injected with the serum and the table begins to transform around you. In a matter of seconds, you are enclosed inside a metal tube, and you hear the doctor yell, “We are beginning the vita rays, y/n! If you can’t handle it then yell for us to stop!”

You yell back, “Whatever I say, don’t stop for anything! I’m in this 100%, I won’t stop for anything less!”

You hear the doctor speaking to Mr. Stark and then the pain begins. You can faintly hear Mr. Stark yelling out numbers to Dr. Erskine, but none of them register in your brain because you are too distracted by the blinding pain. You are vaguely aware that you are screaming an incoherent mess of “stop”, but the pain continues. It grows worse and worse until you see the edge of your vision going black and hear your ears ringing. And as you fade from consciousness you think you hear “100%! She did it!” before it all goes black.

. . .

 

You were 19 when you finally agreed to go on a date with Bucky. He had been asking you for weeks, and after approval from Steve you finally relented. At 7 p.m. sharp he was knocking on your door, and you came running down the stairs of your family’s townhouse. Breathless, you opened the door to a very well-dressed Bucky. You recognized the suit as the same one he wore to the funeral for Steve’s mom. This thought was pushed from your mind when Bucky produced a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. Your face broke into a grin and you said, “Bucky! You didn’t have to get me flowers.”

Bucky smiled at you and replied, “I told you I was going to take you on the best date you’ve ever had, so I’m pulling out all the stops.”

You set the flowers inside and close the door behind you, joining him in the cool night air.

“Oh boy,” you giggled. “I’m afraid to even ask.”

Bucky mimicked zipping his lips, “I wouldn’t tell you anyways.”

You smiled and took his outstretched hand, and began walking to your first location of the night. There was a carnival in the park, and Bucky knew you had been talking about it for weeks. You spent the next few hours getting to know each other romantically and playing any games that caught your eye. Bucky won you a stuffed wolf, which made you squeal in delight because they had always been your favorite animal. You think it had something to do with the fact that they were beautiful creatures, yet smart and wild. Kinda like Bucky.

The night continued at a club Bucky heard about because they played all the best music for dancing. You spent hours that night dancing, until your curls fell out and Bucky lost his coat. Finally, Bucky took you for ice cream, because he knew it was your favorite. He had spoken to Sal, who ran the best ice cream shop on the East Coast, and Sal agreed to stay open late for the two of you. You had spent longer dancing than Bucky had intended, so you both got your ice cream to go and ventured down to the docks to sit by the water. You stayed out with him that night until you watched the sunrise over the water, and you walked hand in hand to Steve’s apartment afterwards. Bucky used the spare key to open the door, and you both curled up with Steve and fell asleep until noon.

Over the last five years you thought about this night a lot, because dates with Bucky were always this thoughtful. He never stopped trying to court you, even after you became his favorite girl. And most of your dates almost always ended with you joining Steve, because neither of you could stand to leave him for long.

. . .

Your eyes opened slowly, the brightness of the room making it hard to focus at first. The first thought in your head was that your mouth was dry and you looked to the table next to you to happily discover a glass of water. After gulping down most of the water, you pulled yourself up into a sitting position and looked around. You were in a plain white room, with a chair in the corner, and you tried to remember where you were. Almost immediately it all came rushing back to you, _the serum_. You noticed a mirror in the room that you hadn’t seen earlier, and you stood to observe yourself in it. Physically, you didn’t look very different. You were still average height and build, but something about you made you feel like you were stronger than before. And despite your initial discomfort upon waking, you didn’t feel anything now, no pain or discomfort.

In the reflection of the mirror, you noticed a piece of paper sitting on the seat of the chair. You walked over and began to read:

 

DR ERSKINE  
KANSAS

 

NEEDED IN BRKLYN. SLDR IS READY.

 

CARTER

Your mind started racing. So, Dr. Erskine went to Brooklyn? And what soldier are they referring to? You ventured out of the room and saw a radio sitting on a table, with coded channels written next to it. You decoded them easily, and one of them had “PC” written next to it, so you tried that channel first.

“Agent Carter? Peggy? Can you hear me?”

Static was the only thing that answered your call, so you tried again.

“Hello? Peggy? Please, someone answer me. Peggy, please.” you said, voice starting to crack with desperation.

Static again answered your call for help, and your dropped my head into your hands, defeated. You were alone, in the middle of nowhere Kansas, with no way to contact anyone. _Great_.

The static continued in the background, but you thought you heard a slight difference in it. You strain your ears, listening for anything. Suddenly a voice comes through the radio, patchy and hard to hear.

“y/n? Is that you?”

“Yes!” you practically scream in reply. “What’s going on? Where is everyone?”

“y/n, I don’t have much time to explain. We’re preparing to give the serum to the soldier. I’ll send someone to get you and I’ll explain everything when you get here.”

“Where is here, exactly?”

“Brooklyn. y/n I must go, I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything when you get here in a few hours.”

And then all you hear is static. Your mind immediately starts wandering. _Brooklyn_. You’re going back home. You think of Steve and wonder if there will be time to see him before you are sent away again. You return to the room, lost in thought, and gather your things from the corner by the chair. Soon after, you hear a commotion outside, and run to meet the plane waiting for you.

Your flight to Brooklyn was short, and mostly involved you thinking of all the questions you were going to ask Dr. Erskine when you saw him. You wanted to know what happened after you passed out and if everything was truly successful. You wanted to know if anything had changed and what effects you should be expecting.

As soon as you landed, you were driven through the familiar streets of Brooklyn to a store front on a busy street. After the Kansas barn lab, you didn’t even bat an eyelash when a bookshelf moved aside to reveal a hallway full of military police, officials in uniforms, and men in lab coats. You were taken to a door and told to wait outside. Peggy emerged from the room seconds later, a small smile on her face.

“y/n.” She greeted, pulling you into a fierce hug that surprised you. It ended as soon as it began, but affection was not something that Peggy often expressed.

“I’m glad that you’re okay, y/n. Dr. Erskine said you slipped into a comatose state as the treatment ended. It was successful and everything seemed to be okay, he thinks your body just needed to recover on its own. How do you feel?” she whispers to you.

“I feel fine. Normal, I guess. Maybe a little stronger, senses sharper, but not much else.” You faintly hear Dr. Erskine speaking, but the words don’t register in your head.

Peggy nodded. “We are starting the serum for the soldier. I have gotten you a seat to watch, but it is important that you do not say anything about the serum in that room. There are members of the government that will have you court marshaled in a second if they found out you received the serum.”

You nodded, conveying to her that you understood.

“And y/n? There’s something else I need to tell you. It’s about the soldier.”

You look at her with confusion. “What is it?”

Peggy takes a deep breath and says, “I swear I didn’t make the connection until after you had received the serum, otherwise I would have told you sooner. But the soldier… his name is Steve. Your Steve.”

Your stomach dropped at her confession and you start to move towards the door when an explosion rocks the building. Peggy looks at you and tells you to follow her, and she leads you down a set of stairs that opens up into the lab. You look up to see what was probably the viewing room is now blown away, and chaos is beginning to settle in the room. You look around for Dr. Erskine or Steve, but before you find them, shots ring out in the small room. You look over and see a tall man in a suit running up the stairs with a vial of liquid, followed by Peggy shooting at him. You look in the direction the shot was fired in and see a man in a lab coat on the ground, and for the second time that day your stomach drops. You push your way through the crowd and as you approach you see Steve leap up and run off in the direction of the shooter. Except, it wasn’t the Steve you knew. He was at least a foot taller and probably 50 pounds of muscle heavier.

“Steve!” you yell out behind him, but he doesn’t hear you.

You quickly finish pushing yourself through the crowd and reach Dr. Erskine. You drop to your knees and immediately start putting pressure on his multiple wounds, hoping to staunch the bleeding. He looks up at you when he feels your hands on his chest, and his eyes light up at the sight of you. He reaches up a bloody hand and rests it on your cheek.

“You’re…okay…” he whispers, before his eyes close and his head falls to the side. You clench your fist in anger and suppress the urge to kill everyone in this room for not saving him. You leap up and run in the direction you saw Steve go, grabbing a discarded gun from dead guard as you do. You step out of the bookcase and run to the shop’s store front just in time to see Peggy standing in front of a moving cab and shooting at the driver. Suddenly, she is thrown to the ground by a blur of white and khaki and you realize that it’s Steve. You run outside to help them, but Steve is already taking off after the cab. You help Peggy stand and turn to follow Steve before she grabs your wrist.

“Wait, y/n! The serum has increased your speed. You’ll give yourself away and get us all killed.”

You pull your wrist from her grasp and huff out in frustration, “I don’t care, Peggy! Steve needs me and I can’t leave him to do this alone!”

Peggy mutters, “I thought you’d say that. I’m sorry.” Before knocking you out cold.

. . .

Your eyes flutter open again, this time being greeted by an examiners room. The paper on the table crinkles beneath you as you sit up, your head aching for a brief second. Anger flashes through your mind when you remember what Peggy did, and you jump off the table and out the door to find her. You see a guard nearby and ask where Peggy is and he points you towards a door at the end of the hall. You barge in, anger running through your veins, only to be greeted by the very confused expressions of both Peggy and Steve.

“y/n?” Steve questions.

“Steve! You’re okay, oh god you’re okay.” You say as you run and pull him into a hug. He wraps his (much larger) arms around you, and you think that you’ll have to get used to hugging this new Steve.

“What are you doing here, y/n?”

You glance at Peggy, your anger dissipating at the sight of Steve. She nods, letting you know that you can tell him a few things.

“I actually work for Peggy, have been for a while. She pulled me from desk duty and sends me where she needs me. She told me about the super soldier program a couple of weeks ago, but never told me you were a candidate.” You say, punctuating the last past with a glare in Peggy’s direction.

“How come you never came to watch us train like Agent Carter did?”

You smile at Steve’s politeness towards Peggy and you reply, “Because that’s not where they needed me.” You cut yourself off here, fearing that you’ll tell him too much.

You begin the walk down to the lab and Peggy clears her throat at this point, both of you turning to her. “I was just telling Mr. Rogers that Dr. Erskine’s killer was a part of Hydra, the Nazi deep science division. Colonel Phillips spoke to the President, and the SSR is being reassigned. Colonel Phillips, Mr. Stark, and I will all be going to London tonight. The death of Dr. Erskine comes as a shock, and we have a lot to do to remedy it.” She delivers this lie flawlessly, showing no signs of deceit.

“If you’re going after Schmidt, I want in.”

Colonel Philips hears Steve’s confession and replies, “You’re an experiment.”

“The serum worked.” Steve replies, looking shocked that he was told no.

Colonel Philips looks Steve up and down quickly before replying, “I asked for an army, all I got was you. You’re not enough.”

You glance over at Steve and see his jaw clenching, so you slip your hand into his and give it a squeeze while offering a soft smile. Steve looks down at you ( _woah, he has never had to look down at you before_ ) and returns your smile with a small one of his own.

A man with dark hair steps into Steve’s line of sight at this moment and says, “With all due respect to the colonel, I think he may be missing the point here. I’ve seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country’s seen it.” He pauses to show Steve a newspaper headline that has his face plastered all over it before continuing, “You don’t take a soldier, a symbol like that, and hide him underground.”

He grabs Steve by the arm and directs him to step away from you and Peggy, his hand slipping from yours. You turn to look at Peggy, your eyebrows raised in annoyance, and see that her expression mirrors your own. You hear the man continue to speak saying, “Son, do you want to serve your county on the most important battlefield of the war?”

Steve looks at the man with a determined look in his eye.  “Sir, that’s all I want.”

“Then congratulations, you just got promoted.”

. . .

You had been on tour with Steve for a few weeks now. You basically played the part of his manager, and you made sure that the show went off without a hitch. You were beginning to grow antsy with touring. You were eager to return to missions or codebreaking or _something_ , but you were the only person that Peggy trusted to watch Steve. She was also worried about you and your new abilities, so she didn’t want to push you in a way that would expose you. You promised her before she left for London that you would protect Steve and also lay low, in terms of being a super soldier.

At the end of one of Steve’s shows, you were both informed that you would be deploying overseas to try to boost morale at some of the bases. This part of the tour excited you both, because it brought you closer to the action you were both craving. The plane ride over was spent with you and Steve coming up with imaginative scenarios of things that might happen on the tour of the bases. You both hoped that you would get to see Bucky.

You had each written to him soon after the tour began, to tell him the bare minimum that you and Steve were together in the interest of work. The tour wasn’t what you or Steve had in mind when he was told he was getting promoted. He had grander ideas, ones that often ended in a fiery explosion and saving a lot of men. Still, touring hadn’t been all bad though. You and Steve got to spend a lot of time together without Bucky, which isn’t something you did often. Bucky was kinda the glue that held the trio together, a fact that you both happily accepted. Still, you got to watch Steve draw and you often spent most of your time together. It was nice having a piece of home with you again.

. . .

You watched from the sidelines of Steve’s latest show, cringing as he was heckled by the men. Neither of you were used to this reaction, seeing as he was an American symbol when you were stateside. You pulled yourself out of your thoughts when you heard Steve stuttering on stage.

“I think they only know the one song. Let me, I’ll-I’ll see what I can do.” He turns to look at you with panic, and you hold up your finger to signal for him to wait. You turn to the girls backstage and whisper “Captain needs your help guys, get ready to get back out there.”

You hear someone yell something at Steve about his boots, and you hear Steve’s slightly defeated sounding response.

“C’mon guys, we are all on the same team here.”

You hear a yell from a man in the crowd, followed closely by a loud sound of applause. You poke your head out just in time to see a tomato fly at Steve. You use that moment to motion Steve towards you and send the girls back out again, the music becoming fainter as you and Steve walk backstage. You hear the stage director try to comfort Steve, but you both roll your eyes.

“Was that a tomato?” you question, slightly incredulous at the turn of events.

“Yeah, I think it was.” Steve said with a light chuckle, but you could see the hurt in his eyes.

“Hey,” you whisper. “Let’s just hang out back here for a while, I think it’s going to rain soon.”

Steve agreed because he knew how much you loved the rain, and you both sat backstage in comfortable silence. Steve sat behind you drawing in his sketchbook, and you sat at the edge of the tent, periodically letting the rain land on your skin. You always marveled at how it calmed you down.

It reminded you of a night a few years ago, prior to the war. You climbed onto the roof of your family’s townhome, crying, because your brother had been killed that day in an accident at the docks. Your mom had been wailing in anguish since she found out, too lost in the depths of her own sorrow to give you any comfort. Your dad sat near the fireplace with a scotch in his hand, and a look on his face like defeat. Your brother wasn’t even supposed to be down there that day, or at all. Your parents did well enough in their own careers to keep you and your family living comfortably. You weren’t rich by any means, but by Brooklyn standards you were. Your parents insisted that your brother didn’t need to get a job at the docks, but he refused to listen. He almost considered it a rite of passage. So, he got the job and all seemed well. He got into university and was supposed to be leaving in a few weeks, so he quit his job at the docks a few days earlier. Except one of his friends got one of those nasty summer colds, and your brother couldn’t say no to anyone, a quality that you always noticed in Steve. Anyways, your brother covered for his buddy and near the end of his shift a steal beam fell onto him and crushed him to death. An officer came to the door to let you know, and you had come running down the stairs when you heard your mother’s cries.

And now you were here. Alone on the roof in a summer thunderstorm. You sat huddled in the corner, knees pulled to your chest as sobs racked your body. Your brother had been the most important person in your life, followed by Steve and Bucky. You didn’t know how you were supposed to go on living life without him. You were so lost in your thoughts and sorrow that you didn’t hear anyone come up until you noticed a set of feet in front of you. You felt strong arms wrap around you and pull you up until you were standing and pulled to their chest. You felt a kiss on your temple and smelled the familiar scent of grease, cheap aftershave, and always the strange scent of honeysuckle. It was always faint and you were sure no one else could notice, but you never could figure out how.

You looked up at Bucky, rain splashing onto your cheeks and mixing with your tears. Bucky put his hand on your cheek, and kissed you softly.

“You know that he will always be with you, y/n. He lives on through you, in your actions and your words and your experiences. He wouldn’t want you to cry for him, he’d want you to change the world for him.”

Your tears stopped falling as he said this, knowing that there was truth in his words. You smiled sadly at Bucky saying, “The sky cries for him too.”

He took your hand and led you back inside. “Steve is waiting downstairs, I didn’t want him to catch a cold. We brought you something to eat and we’re not leaving your side tonight.”

You smiled at him gratefully, “Thank you, Bucky.”

And that night you fell asleep on the floor, tucked between Steve and Bucky, listening to the summer storm outside. Years later you realized how much your brother’s death played a part in your decisions. You joined the Army because of him, and probably agreed to the serum in part because of him.

But your thoughts were interrupted by someone entering the tent behind you.

“Hello Steve. Hello y/n.”

You turned to see Peggy standing there, and you ran over to give her hug. She smiled at you warmly before she pulled away.

“What are you doing here?” Steve questions. You don’t miss the way Steve’s eyes light up when he first sees Peggy.

“Officially, I’m not here at all. That was quite a performance.”

“Yeah, I had to improvise a little bit. The crowds I’m used to are usually a bit more, 12…” Steve trails off, looking defeated once again.

“I understand you are America’s new hope.” Peggy says, sounding slightly sarcastic.

“Bond sales get a 10% bump in every state I visit.” Steve mutters in a rehearsed tone.

“Is that Senator Grant I hear?” Peggy responds, causing Steve to clench his jaw. You stand back observing their back and forth with a thoughtful look.

Steve looks slightly wounded when he says, “At least he’s got me doing this. Phillips would have had me stuck in a lab.”

“And these are your only two options? Lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know.” Peggy says this with a conviction that surprises you.

Steve sits in silence for a moment, considering this. At his expression, Peggy asks, “What?”

“You know for the longest time I dreamed about coming overseas, and being on the front lines, serving my country. I finally got everything I wanted. And I’m wearing tights.” The defeat in Steve’s voice breaks your heart, despite already knowing that he felt this way. Hearing him admit it to Peggy makes you realize how much it is truly bothering him though.

At this moment, you hear a horn beep, and all three of you turn to look in the direction of the source. A medical jeep has just pulled up, full of injured soldiers.

“They look like they’ve been through hell.” Steve says, sadness in his voice.

Peggy answers, “These men more than most. Schmidt sent out a force to this Army. 200 men went against him, only 15 returned. Your audience contained what was left of the 107th. The rest were either killed or captured.”

At the mention of the 107th, your head snaps up and you make eye contact with Steve, knowing that the desperation in his eyes matched your own.

“The 107th?!” Steve questions.

You both jump up and run out of the tent, Peggy close behind you.

“C’mon!”

You arrive in Colonel Phillips’ tent dripping water and out of breath. You look over at Peggy and notice that despite your wet journey, she still looks flawless, without a hair out of place.

Colonel Phillips notices your entrance and says, “Ah, if it isn’t the star-spangled man with a plan and his trusty sidekick. What is your plan today?”

Steve ignores this jab and immediately launches into his request. “I need the casualty list for Azzano.”

A look of annoyance flashes across Colonel Phillips face. “You don’t get to give me orders, son.”

“I just need one name. Sergeant James Barnes, from the 107th.”

Colonel Phillips turns to Peggy and says, “You and I are going to have a conversation later that you won’t enjoy.”

You glance at Peggy and notice a look of remorse pass over her features before she quickly composes her expression back to neutral.

You turn to Colonel Phillips, desperation heavy in your voice. “Please colonel, we need to know if he’s okay. Sergeant Barnes. _Please._ ”

Colonel Phillips stands and flips through a stack of papers. “I’ve signed more of these condolence letters today than I care to count, but the name does sound familiar. I’m sorry.” He turns to look at you and continues, “to you both.”

You feel your stomach drop at his words, denial already setting in. _No, no, no. Bucky is ALIVE, I can feel it._

Steve continues with his line of questioning, still full of hope. “What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?”

“Yeah, it’s called winning the war!”

Unconvinced, Steve says, “But if you know where they are-“

Colonel Phillips cuts him off, annoyance heavy in his tone. “They’re 30 miles behind the lines, through some of the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We’d lose more men then we’d save. But I don’t expect you to understand that because you’re a chorus girl.”

You glare at Colonel Phillips and turn to look at Steve, his expression already hardening. “I think I understand just fine.”

Shock overtakes you at Steve’s agreement with Phillips. “Well I don’t!” you yell. “You can’t just leave them there to die! Those are our men!”

Steve grabs your wrist to pull you away, but you yank your arm free. You turn to him and say, “No, Steve! You may be okay with this, but I’m not! Bucky is alive, I know he is!”

As you say this, Steve picks you up and throws you over his shoulder, you screaming at Phillips the whole way out of the tent. He walks you through the base quickly, all the while you are yelling at him. “Steve, put me down! Steven Rogers, put me down right now!”

The eyes and snickers of the men follow you as he takes you back to your performance tent. He sets you on the ground and you immediately pull your arm back and land a punch on his jaw that would have shattered the average man’s skull. The force of it shocks you both.

Peggy walks in as you punch Steve and gasps out, “y/n!”

Steve looks at you with realization and waves off the lecture that he knows Peggy is about to give you. You just look back at Steve knowing that he knows you took the serum.

Steve turns from you both and begins packing, and Peggy looks exasperated.

“What do you plan to do, walk to Austria?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

You realize that Steve is planning to go after Bucky and there’s not a chance in hell that he’s leaving you behind on this one. You grab a helmet and throw it in a bag with a gun and some knives Peggy gave you when she left to go to London. You had been looking forward to using them on someone, and it looked like this might be your chance.

“You heard the colonel, your friend is most likely dead.” Peggy explains, exasperated with you and Steve both.

Steve says, “You don’t know that.” At the same time you snap out, “He’s not!”

Peggy gives you a look of pity and continues softly, “Even so, he’s devising a strategy. If he detects-“

“By the time he does that, it will be too late!” yells out Steve. He storms out of the tent, and you follow behind him quickly.

“Steve! y/n!”

You hear Peggy groan as she comes up behind you. Steve looks at her with hope written all over his face and asks, “You told me you thought I was meant for more than this, did you mean that?”

Peggy responds with sincerity, “Every word.”

“Then you gotta let me go,” Steve says.

“Us,” you mention with annoyance.

You can see Peggy come to the conclusion that neither of you are going to let this go, so she responds with, “I can do more than that.”

Within the hour, you, Steve, Peggy and Howard Stark are all on a plane together and heading for the heart of danger. Peggy explained the Hydra base to you and Steve, but as usual you were having a hard time concentrating. Your mind swam with thoughts of Bucky and you wondered if he was okay. Peggy mentioned that they experimented on captives, and that it often ended in death. The thought made your heart constrict.

You were pulled back to the present when Stark said, “We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep.” You raised your eyebrows at his statement, wondering what you and Steve had gotten into.

“Just get us as close as you can.” Steve replies. “You know, you two are going to be in a lot of trouble.”

Peggy raises her eyebrows at Steve and asks, “And you both wont?”

Steve chuckles and says, “Where were going if anyone yells, we can just shoot at them.”

“They will undoubtedly shoot back.” Peggy says, much more serious now.

“Yeah, well, let’s hope this is good for something.” Steve mentions as he pats the shield next to him.

Stark speaks up and asks Peggy a question about fondue that sends Steve into a stuttering mess of confusion. You can see him trying to figure out the intention behind Stark’s message and you work hard to stifle a laugh at his expense. You can see Peggy repressing the urge to roll her eyes, a habit she had quickly picked up from you, and she looks at you and hands you a little black box. “This is your transponder. Activate it when you’re ready, and the signal will lead us to you.”

Steve looks at the box in your hand with skepticism. “Are you sure this thing works?”

Stark turns with a smile and answers, “It’s tested more than both of you, pal.”

Peggy sends Stark a sharp glare, and you steal a glance at Steve and notice that he’s deep in thought. _Oh boy_.

Before anyone can say anything, the explosion of shells outside sends you into the wall of the plane. You all begin to be shaken back and forth with their force, but Stark controls the plane well.

As if you are tuned into the same wavelength, you and Steve stand up and cross to the door of the plane. He turns to Peggy and yells over the noise of the engines. “As soon as I’m clear you turn this thing around and get the hell out of here!”

Peggy looks at him with disbelief. “You can’t give me orders!”

Steve smiles and looks at Peggy when he answers, “The hell I can, I’m a Captain.”

He smirks before pulling down his goggles and jumping from the plane. All you can think about is how damn suave his exit was. Peggy grabs your wrist before you jump.

“Be careful. Watch him, he can be reckless.”

You nod and blow her a kiss before following Steve out of the plane. You hear the plane retreating as you land safely on the ground. Your feet squish through the mud as you detach from your parachute, and you see Steve crouching low just ahead of you. You kneel next to him, mud dampening your pants and you look through the brush at the compound in front of you. You are suddenly thankful that Peggy found you a pair of fitted pants and boots for this mission. Heels and a skirt wouldn’t cut it. The compound is surrounded by high fences, and you can see a lot of men milling about between armored vehicles.

You and Steve had already discussed your plan of entry on the plane, so you looked at him for confirmation to continue on. He looked at you and whispered quickly, “I know you took the serum. I knew that there was something different about you when I saw you in the lab, and I could feel that something was wrong with you when we were on tour, but I figured you were just worried about Bucky. But then you punched me and Stark made that comment on the plane…” he trailed off, before checking your surroundings and then looking back to you. “I agreed to let you come because of the serum. Bucky is going to pissed when he realizes, so you owe me an explanation when we get out of this.”

You nod at Steve and say, “I’ll tell you and Bucky everything. I’m sorry I kept this from you.”

Steve waved off your apology and said, “It’s not important. All that matters now is that we go save Bucky. We worry about the rest later.”

You smile at him before crouching forward towards the fence. You and Steve had agreed to stay close together, in case either of you needed help. You knelt next to the fence, and Steve stood behind you watching your back and constantly checking your surroundings. You cut a hole in the fence that was large enough for you and Steve to slip through, and you both crept through the perimeter of the base, hoping no one saw you. You and Steve duck behind an armored truck as someone suddenly walks near you, and you held your breath as you waited for him to walk past.

You peeked around the truck and saw a door straight ahead of you that was watched by one guard. You touched Steve’s arm to get his attention and point towards the guard, signaling that you were going to take care of it. He nodded and continued to take in your surroundings, knowing that it would be easier for you to slip between obstacles to reach the door.

You stepped out from the shadows at the guard’s back, and he starts to turn towards you until you slipped a knife from the strap on your side. He drops to the ground after a single cut to his throat. You motion for Steve to join you, and you used the guards ID card to open the door and slip inside. Steve closes the door softly behind him, and steps in front of you to better protect you. You look around the dark hallway you were in and you approach a door at the end of the hall that is guarded by a single man. You watch your backs as Steve takes the guard out, and when you hear a body hit the floor, you turn and follow Steve through the doorway. You look around you in awe at the large room you have snuck into. It is full of machines and the sound of equipment, and you wonder what secrets this base holds. You see Steve pocket something that was in a case near him, and you both continue forward.

Suddenly, your ears picked up on the voices of men whispering. Steve turns to look at you to see if you hear it and when he realizes that you do, he starts sneaking down the hall towards the sound. The moonlight filtering through the high windows casts an eerie blue glow on the hall, and as you round the corner you can hear the sound of Steve taking out a guard. You join him next to the fallen body and realize that the sounds of the men are coming from beneath you. Your eyes widen at the cages of men below, and you and Steve take off running to find a way down to the cages.

You manage to make it down below and Steve unlocks the first cage before tossing you a set of keys. He begins speaking to the men.

“Is there anybody else? We’re looking for a Sergeant James Barnes.”

“There’s an isolation ward in the factory, but no ones’ ever come back from it,” someone responds.

“All right. The tree line is Northwest, 80 yards past the gate. Get out fast and give em hell. We’ll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else we find.”

Steve seems satisfied with the information from the men, and he motions for you to follow him.

The men turn to look at Steve in confusion, “Wait. You know what you’re doing?’

Steve smirks and responds, “Yeah. I’ve knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times.” You notice the lack of humor in his voice. He turns and you both take off running down the hall, in search of Bucky.

It wasn’t long before you knew that your cover was blown, because you could hear gunshots and explosions ringing out every few seconds. An alarm sounded above you, and you had a feeling it wasn’t a good omen. You and Steve were spotted pretty soon after the chaos of the prisoner’s release began, and you both fought off the guards side by side, trying to find the room that the men thought Bucky was in.

Eventually, you both fought your way to a dark hallway and you moved down it with your guns drawn. You heard footsteps ahead of you, and you and Steve rounded the corner to see a short man in a coat and glasses standing and looking at you both. He starts to run off, and you yell “Stop!”

You begin to chase after him, but you are stopped by the sound of Steve’s voice yelling out, “y/n!”

You stop abruptly and turn to see that he has disappeared through a door. You jog back to the room, and step inside hesitantly, hearing the faint murmur of “Sergeant. 32557.”

Steve gasps out, “Bucky!” and your hand flies to your mouth in shock of his appearance. Bucky is laying on a metal table, looking weak and dazed. He clearly hasn’t registered yours or Steve’s presence yet, and he continues to mumble quietly to himself.

“Ohmygod.” Steve breaks the straps holding down Bucky with ease, and he says, “it’s me. It’s Steve.”

You start to walk towards them and see Bucky’s eye coming into focus on Steve. “Steve,” he says with a huge smile.

Steve’s hands ghost over Bucky’s face for a second and he gasps out in shock, “I thought you were dead.”

Bucky seems to notice Steve’s height and says, “I thought you were smaller.”

You step into his line of sight as Steve helps Bucky off the table, and his eyes find yours. “y/n?”

He lifts his hand to your cheek and you place your hand over his with a watery smile. “Hi, Buck.”

You both help Bucky out of the room and he questions Steve.

“What happened to you?”

Steve absentmindedly answers, “I joined the Army.”

“Did it hurt?”

“A little.”

“Is it permanent?”

“So far!” Steve yells out, as you run down the hallway. You can hear the base exploding around you. Peggy mentioned that it might be rigged to explode upon discovery, so it wasn’t a complete shock. But that didn’t make it any less unsettling to know the base was essentially falling around you.

You ran through the base and up multiple flights of stairs, trying to find a door to the outside. As your feet land on one of the landings of stairs, you notice two men on the other side of the room. _Schmidt and Dr. Zola_. Schmidt takes note of your arrival and yells out, “Captain America! How exciting! I am a great fan of your films. So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still, impressive.”

Throughout their conversation, Schmidt and Steve walked towards watch other, and Steve’s anger finally boiled over as he landed a punch on Schmidt’s jaw.

You grab Bucky’s hand as Schmidt grabs his jaw and looks at Steve, and you hold Bucky back from defending Steve.

“You’ve got no idea.”

“Haven’t I?” Schmidt questions, delivering a punch to Steve’s shield that leaves individual finger marks. Steve pulls his gun, but Schmidt hits him, sending Steve falling back. He steps towards Steve, and Steve kicks Schmidt, the force knocking him back several feet.

 Before anything else can occur, Steve is lurched back as the bridge they were on began to retreat to the two separate sides.

Schmidt yells out, “No matter what lies Erskine told you, I was his greatest success!”

He grabbed the skin on his face near his jawline and began to pull until he revealed a skull that was free of flesh and blood red in color. You gasped and shuddered in disgust and Bucky turned to Steve and asks, “You don’t have one of those, do you?”

Schmidt continued\s on, “You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!”

Ironically, he was stepping into an elevator as he delivered this last line, which Steve threw back in his face. “Then how come you are running?”

The doors close on an annoyed looking Schmidt and a frightened Dr. Zola. Before any of you can say a word, a new set of explosions rings out in the building and you knew that time is running out. Steve turns to yell, “Let’s go!”

You push Bucky ahead of you, knowing that his life is more important than your own, and you all clambered up the stairs towards a door that Steve had spotted moments ago. All three of you ran to the railing of the platform and looked towards the door, wondering how to get across. You spot a metal beam near you, and push Bucky towards it. He plants his feet and turns to you.

“No, y/n. You go first.”

You shook your head, but Steve spoke up. “y/n, go, hurry!”

Knowing that you owed it to Steve, you complied, and you climb over the metal railing and onto the beam. _Oh god, oh god, oh god, this won’t hold the boys weight, it’s too weak_. You scurry across quickly, hating the creaking that the beam makes under your weight. You motion for Bucky to follow and he looks back at Steve, who nods at him to go on. Bucky follows in your footsteps, inching along the beam, explosions around him nearly causing him to lose his balance. He pauses to regain his balance, and continues inching towards you. You all hear the metal groan ominously, and Bucky looks at you with fear before sprinting the last few feet towards you. As he grabs the metal bars, the beam falls from beneath him, and instinctively you reach out to grab him, using your strength to pull him over. He looks at you in shock, panting from the fear of a close call. You both turn to look at Steve, realization dawning on you that he has no way to get across. Steve looks lost, but yells out, “Go, get out of here!”

Bucky looks at him in desperation and replies, “No! not without you!”

The emotion in his voice and on his face breaks your heart in half. Steve looks at the rails in front of him and bends them backwards, your eyebrows raising at the ease in which he bent steel. He jogs backwards and look at the distance between you, and you and Bucky step back a little to give him space. You see Steve shake his head a little, and all of the sudden he is running at you, full speed, leaping over the chasm. For a moment, you think that you have lost him, because an explosion has hidden him from view. But a second later you hear his hands hit the metal, and you and Bucky rush forward to pull him over. The force of your pull causes him to land on top of you and Bucky, and you all laugh in disbelief for a second when you realize that Steve survived the jump.

Steve pulls you and Bucky up, and you all run through the base until you reach the men in the woods. Luckily, they have stolen tanks and weapons, and you feel slightly less nervous about the long walk behind enemy lines. On the first night you stop to camp, and you, Steve, and Bucky are huddled in the only tent that was found in the tanks. The men immediately gave it to Steve, and it’s where you all sat now, legs tangled together as usual and too afraid to let each other out of your sight.

Bucky was holding your hand in an iron grip, and you reveled in the feel of having him with you again. You had all been sitting in silence for the last hour, quietly coping on your own terms, and Bucky is the first to break the silence.

“Okay, so what is going on? Steve, you’re suddenly two times bigger and stronger. y/n, you pulled me over the railing like I weighed nothing. And how did you two end up together? And _here_?”

Steve looks at you, nodding for you to tell him, knowing that you know more.

“Soon after I made it overseas, an agent named Peggy Carter pulled me from secretarial work to codebreaking and minor fieldwork. Within the week, I was debriefed on Project Rebirth, a program designed to create an army of super soldiers. Unfortunately, there was a plot in place to kill Dr. Erskine, the man who created the serum. He decided to accept his fate and not document the serum ingredients, and he only had enough serum to create two soldiers.”

Steve interrupts me then, “Wait, you knew?! You knew and you let him get killed anyways? He was a good man, y/n. He deserved more than that!”

“Steve, I know, and I am sorry. I only found out a few days before everything happened, and Peggy swore me to secrecy. It wasn’t my place to intervene.”

Steve looks upset at your confession, but nods to say that he understands. You reach over and squeeze his hand, a sad smile on your face.

“I was asked to be the first soldier and they would decide on the second a few days after I received the serum. I had no idea that it would be Steve. I received a modified version of the serum, which is why I didn’t really physically change like Steve did. The serum essentially put me into a coma for a few days, and when I woke up everyone was gone. I was flown to Brooklyn and met up with Steve there. We went on a tour together to sell war bonds, and it brought us here, to the 107th. When Peggy finally told us about men being captured, we knew we had to come find you, Bucky.”

Bucky sits silently for a moment, considering what you’ve said. You turn to Steve to see if has anything to ask, but he shakes his head no. You turn back to Bucky and he takes in a deep breath, eyebrows pulled together in a scowl.

“So, you’re telling me that that I go to fight in the war for only a few months, and you two have _both_ gone and agreed to be science experiments?” You glance at Steve and see that he looks remorseful. Bucky turns to Steve and continues, “Steve, I _told_ you to stop trying to join the Army! And now look what you’ve done! You, both of you, are government property. And y/n, you were supposed to be _safe_ inside some base, away from all of the danger. Instead, you are both on the frontlines and I have to protect you from your own idiocy!”

You draw back at his harsh words. You knew he’d be mad, and you know you shouldn’t react. You should be like Steve and take Bucky’s anger and swallow it without fighting back, but you’re muddy and exhausted and you did all of this for him. So, you yell back.

“Bucky, we aren’t children on the playground that you have to protect anymore! We are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves. We did this for _you_.”

You see that your words don’t anger Bucky further, but they don’t calm him down either. You pull yourself up from the floor of the tent, rolling your eyes as you do. You storm outside, the cooler night air instantly helping to calm you. A chill has already started to settle in your bones, so you join the boys around the fire they built. You plop down next to Morita in a huff and he turns to you.

“He cares about you both, you know, he never stopped talking about his best pal Steve and his girl y/n. You both followed him to the gates of hell. That’s an alarming place to see the two people that you love the most.”

You sigh and rub your hands over your face. “I know. But he would have done the same for us, so we damn well couldn’t have done any less for him.”

Morita’s response was cut off by the approach of footsteps that came to a halt in front of you. You look up to see Bucky standing there, a soft smile on his face.

“Can we talk for a minute, y/n?”

You nod your head and he helps you to your feet. He leads you away from the fire and the sudden loss of warmth sends a shiver down your spine. Bucky notices this and slips his jacket off him and puts it onto you. You smile at him gratefully, as you come to a stop near a tree.

“y/n,” he begins. “You know I worry about you and Steve. I will always worry about you and Steve. Other than Rebecca, you’re the only family I’ve got.”

You smile sadly at the mention of Rebecca, aware that Bucky didn’t know where she was or who was taking care of her. Bucky continues, “When they took me to the isolation room, I thought that was it for me. No one ever came back from there. But the one thing that I held onto when I was on that table and screaming in pain was that you and Steve were thousands of miles away, safe from harm.”

You grab the front of Bucky’s shirt then and pull him into a desperate kiss, hoping that he understands what you’re trying to say. You pull back after a moment, your foreheads resting together. You whisper, “I couldn’t leave you there to die, Buck.” Your voice cracks towards the end and tears slip down your face when you realize that you nearly lost him. Bucky pulls you into a tight hug, letting you know that everything is okay now.

“C’mon,” he says. “Let’s get some rest. We have a long walk ahead of us.”

He leads you back to the tent, and you, Bucky, and Steve cuddle up together like you used to in Steve’s apartment. You fall asleep that night with a smile on your face.

. . .

You had been walking for most of the day, and your body was starting to feel it. You swallowed every complaint you had though, because you knew that Bucky and the guys had been through much worse than this. When the sun started to dip below the trees, your ears started to perk up at the familiar sounds of the base. You turned to Steve and Bucky and smiled, knowing that you made it. You were all safe. The pace of the group quickened, and within minutes you were all walking onto the base, the sound of cheering men all around you. Steve turns to look at Bucky and smiles as he touches his arm. You grin at them both.

The crowd parted and allowed you to reach a scowling Colonel Phillips and a pleased Peggy. Your group comes to a halt in front of them, and Steve salutes Colonel Phillips. You and Bucky stand back, knowing it was better to let Steve do the talking.

“Some of these men need medical attention.” Steve says as he looks around at the men. “I’d like to surrender myself for disciplinary action.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Colonel Phillips responds.

“Yes, sir.” Steve replies, shock evident in his voice.

Colonel Phillips walks off and Peggy takes this moment to step forward. You elbow Bucky to get his attention, and nod your head towards Steve and Peggy. On the walk this morning you told him about Steve and his crush, and you and Bucky had spent most of the day teasing him for it.

“You’re late.” Peggy says with a smirk.

Steve looks at her with a smirk of his own. “I couldn’t call my ride,” he answers as he hands her the transponder.

They stand there smirking at each other and Bucky seizes the moment and yells out into the crowd, “Hey, let’s hear it for Captain America!”

The crowd of men erupts into cheers around them, and Steve stands in the middle of it all, probably wondering how he got to this point.

. . .

The hours following your group’s return consisted of debrief after debrief. You, Steve, and Bucky were brought into the city to tell them everything you knew. Luckily, Steve had memorized a map of Hydra bases, and he was busy marking them for Peggy. You and Bucky hung back, letting Steve handle the meetings and coordination of attacks.

He came to you both later that evening, as you and Bucky were preparing to go out with everyone that night. The SSR had rented you each a room in a cheap motel, but of course you, Steve, and Bucky had agreed to stay in one room together. There was something about the comforts of home that seemed necessary to have in the midst of war.

You were busy perfecting your curls in the mirror, as Bucky dressed in the bedroom. Steve came barging into the room in a flurry of excitement.

“They want us to take out the Hydra bases! I get to assemble a team, and I want you both on it.”

You step out of the bathroom, and glance at Bucky. He gives you a look that says “duh” and so you turn to Steve and say, “Of course we’re going with you Steve. They can’t break us up now.”

Everyone finishes getting ready and you head to a club to dance and drink away the memories of the last few months. Steve wandered off as soon as he arrived, wanting to find the guys and ask them to join his team.

You and Bucky head to the bar and each throw back two shots before running to the dance floor together. You throw your head back in laughter as Bucky spins you around, feeling as if you are back in Brooklyn together. You had missed this, this feeling of being free and without responsibility. That was something you always loved about Bucky. He could always make you forget about all of the bad shit in the world.

After dancing your way into a sweat, you sent Bucky to go find Steve while you grabbed drinks.

“No doll, I’ll get the drinks. You go sit down and catch your breath.”

You laugh and kiss Bucky, a smile on your face since the night began. “No way, Bucky. I’m not letting you pay for an overpriced drink. I saw the bartender eyeing me up earlier and I know that I can get a few free drinks out of him.”

Bucky tips his head back and laughs loudly, looking at you with adoration. “That’s why you’re my best girl!”

Your heart squeezes at the nickname, and you smile at him before walking towards the bar. As you suspected, you got three free drinks out of the bartender and an address written on a napkin. You throw the napkin away on your way back to Bucky, and you find him sitting on a barstool with Steve, deep in conversation. They don’t notice you as you approach, so you catch the end of their conversation, reminding you of the night at the Expo all those months ago.

“You ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?”

Bucky smirks and replies, "Hell no. That little guy from Brooklyn, who was too dumb not to run away from a fight, I’m following him.”

Steve smiles at this before Bucky asks, “But you’re keeping the outfit, right?”

Steve smirks and says, “You know what? It’s kinda growing on me.”

They smile at each other and you walk over to them then, planting a kiss on both Bucky and Steve’s cheeks.

“Wow, someone needs to tell the guys that their singing is awful.” You say as you hand them both a glass of scotch. They laugh at your comment and you all pause to listen to their song, noticing that it’s getting softer. You stand up in confusion to look around the corner and your eyes are met with Peggy looking stunning in an all red ensemble. You run over to her and pull her into a hug, happy that at least the war brought you a female friend. She grins and hugs you back.

“You look stunning, Peggy!” She blushes a little and thanks you before walking over to Steve.

“Captain.”

“Agent Carter.”

She turns to look at Bucky and he nods, “ma’am.” She returns his nod with a small smile, before turning back to Steve.

“Howard has some new equipment for you to try. Tomorrow morning. All of you.” She says, turning to look at you and Bucky.

“Sounds good.” Steve responds. You notice the look on his face and the silence that stretches between him and Peggy, so you grab Bucky’s hand and pull him away.

“C’mon, Buck. I believe you owe me another dance.”

“Aw c’mon, y/n, I want to see Steve embarrass himself in front of Agent Carter!”

You smack his arm playfully and turn to smile at Steve and Peggy, who are already lost in conversation.

“0800!” she yells at your retreating figure.

. . .

The next morning Steve is already gone when you wake up. It surprises you a little because you were usually the first to wake up, but he’d been up before you the last few weeks. You wake up Bucky and you both get ready for your meeting with Stark. Bucky had been grilling you all morning about your past interactions with Stark, wondering if he had told you about any of his futuristic projects. He was definitely disappointed when you told him that you hadn’t spent that much time with him.

You both head back to the base you were at the day before, and you met up with Peggy on the walk over. You and Peggy were debating the use of guns vs knives when you rounded the corner to see Steve wrapped up in the arms of a blonde, lips locked together.

Peggy puts her hands on her hips and yells out, “Captain!” Steve abruptly pulls away from the blonde and at least has the decency to look guilty.

“We’re ready for you, if you’re not otherwise occupied.” She says, walking off before Steve even has a chance to respond. You raise your brows at him as he walks by, and Bucky pats him on the back saying, “Go Steve!”

You smack Bucky on the arm in response to his comment and glare at the blonde before dragging Bucky to catch up to Peggy and Steve. You are careful to keep your distance behind the bickering pair, hearing bits and pieces of their argument.

“How do I know that you and Stark haven’t been…fonduing?”

Peggy turns around to look at him in annoyance and points you in the direction of a door. You hear her mutter before she walks off, “You still don’t know a bloody thing about women.”

You walk through the door where Stark joins you and it’s obvious that he heard at least part of the argument. He says, "Fondue is just cheese and bread, my friend.”

Steve questions, “Really? I didn’t think-“

Howard cuts him off, “Nor should you, pal. The moment you think you know what’s going on in a woman’s head, the moment your goose is well and truly cooked.”

“Hey!” you yell out. “I heard that!”

Howard laughs and begins to show you each your weapons.

“Barnes, we heard you’re a hell of a sniper, so we developed a rifle and some side arms for you. They’re accurate as hell, with little kickback. Shoot like a dream.”

He hands Bucky his weapons, and Bucky stands there admiring them and testing how they feel.

He turns to you, “And for the lovely y/n, Peggy said you were pretty good with knives. So, we developed some that are strong, yet light. Various sizes for your various needs. You also have some similar side arms, as well.”

He hands you a set of 8 knives and a few pistols, and you admire the quality of the weapons. You flip the knives back and forth, testing their weight, impressed at how light they seem. You spin around and throw two at a wood shelf behind you, and they fly through the air easily, sticking into the wood. You nod, impressed, and Stark raises his eyebrows before saying, “Remind me to stay on your good side.”

You wink in return and Stark turns to Steve. He walks him through a few protections for the guys and then pats the shield. “I heard you were attached?”

“It’s handier than you might think.”

“I took the liberty of coming up with some options.” Steve walks down the row of shields looking at them, until you see his eye catch a shield hidden below the table.

“What about this one?”

“No, no,” Stark waves off his question. “That one’s just a prototype.”

“What’s it made of?”

“Vibranium. It's stronger than steel and a third of the weight. We worked it into y/n’s knives and Barnes’ guns.”

They continue discussing the vibranium as you and Bucky situate your new weapons on the various holsters and straps you both have hidden on you.

You look up when you hear the sound of heels on the concrete and see Peggy walking in.

“Are you quite finished, Mr. Stark? I’m sure the Captain has some unfinished business.”

Steve turns to Peggy with a smile, holding the shield up to his chest. “What do you think?”

Peggy grabs a gun off the table near her and levels it at Steve. He pulls the shield up to cover his upper half just as Peggy fires off 4 shots.

As Steve lowers the shield to look at her she replies, “Yes, I think it works.”

You look at Bucky who is holding back laughter at the display, and you grin and roll your eyes at her actions. It causes you to think that her and Steve are a match made in dramatic heaven.

Peggy sets the gun down and walks out, Steve’s eyes following her the entire time.

. . .

You spend the next few months running through mud, snow, and rain into Hydra bases, explosions, and fire fight, as part of the Howling Commandos. Your small team was successful, and you eventually destroyed most of the Hydra bases that you were aware of. Unfortunately, there was still the main Hydra base and its location remained unknown. That is, until, you received intel that Dr. Zola would be on a train to a new location. You all knew that this was your best bet at finding the last base, since the Doctor wasn’t as guarded as Schmidt.

Days later you stood on the side of a snowy mountain, your breath visible in the cold. You looked up at the zip line warily, wondering whose crazy idea this was to begin with. Steve and Bucky stood in front of you, all three of you preparing to drop onto the train with Jones.

Bucky spoke up, “Remember when I made you ride the cyclone at Coney Island?”

“Yeah and I threw up?” Steve questioned. You grinned at the memory, remembering that Steve was practically green when he stumbled off the ride, and Bucky was grinning from ear to ear.

“This isn’t payback, is it?” Bucky asked.

Steve grinned and looked up at the line, “Now why would I do that?”

They grinned at each other, and you smiled at their friendship. You were ready for the war to be over and for you to all return to Brooklyn. You were happy to be together, but it was always easier in Brooklyn. You didn’t have to worry about explosions or Hydra or war plans.

Jones spoke up behind you. “We were right. Dr. Zola is on the train. Hydra dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle. Wherever he’s going, they must need him bad.”

Steve pulls his helmet onto his head, and you all prepare to drop down onto the train.

“Let’s get going because they are moving like the devil.”

Steve hooks his handle over the line and says, “We only got about a 10 second window. You miss that window, we’re bugs on a windshield.”

The guys yell out commands behind you, making you more nervous than you already are.

“Mind the gap!”

“Better get moving, bugs!”

Steve readies himself, with Bucky right begin him. You stand behind Bucky, talking yourself into it. Someone yells out and Steve begins his descent.

Bucky turns around and plants a quick kiss on your cheek. “See you down there, doll.” He says, before turning and following Steve. You throw your line on and take off when told, surprisingly loving the rush as you close in on the train. You hear Jones descending behind you. You all land on the train, dropping low when you do. And despite yourself, a grin appears on your face. _That was badass_. You run along the top of the train and down a ladder, following Steve and Bucky. Jones stays up top to provide cover. Steve moves to the left as Bucky moves to the right, and you follow behind Bucky, gun drawn and ready. You creep down the train car, hyperaware of every creak and sound. The doors between the cars are open, and Steve walks towards the door first. Bucky motions for you to follow Steve, with him bringing up the rear. Steve continues forward, passing through a short corridor, and into the next car. Just as Steve crosses into the car ahead, and you cross into the corridor, the doors slide shut, locking tightly. You turn in a panic and see that Bucky is locked in the car behind you and Steve is locked in the car in front of you, and you are trapped in the middle.

Your panic is interrupted by the sound of gunshot, first in Bucky’s car and then in Steve’s. You look between both doors wondering who to try to go after first, knowing that Steve would tell you Bucky and Bucky would tell you Steve. You decide on Bucky because Steve has a shield and is full of serum. You hear continuous gunshot from both sides, and you begin shooting at Bucky’s door, hoping to break through. All of your bullets are pinging off the door and causing no damage, so you resort to desperately pounding on the door.

Suddenly, a shot rings out from Steve’s side and penetrates the wall of his door, and you realize it’s a vaporization weapon. You realize Steve is your best bet at getting to Bucky. You run to the hole in the wall and yell through, “Steve, get the vaporizer! Shoot the door so I can get to Bucky!”

Steve grunts in response and slides himself forward using the pulley above him. He delivers a kick to the masked man, knocking him to the ground just as you hear more shots from Bucky. Steve yells out to you, “Stand back, y/n!”

You shrink into the corner, making yourself as small as you can and Steve shoots the door. His door is completely blown open, and the debris dents the door on Bucky’s car. The shrapnel from the explosion leaves cuts all over your hands and face, but you ignore it. Steve runs up and asks, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, we need to help Bucky.” You peek through the window and watch as he runs out of ammo, and you relay this to Steve. He pries open the door as quietly as he can, and the sound causes Bucky to turn and look in your direction. Steve holds up a gun and tosses it to Bucky, and then surges forward, pushing a box to draw out the man. The man steps out and Bucky stands and shoots him while saying, “I had him on the ropes.”

Steve replies, “Of course you did.” You run forward and throw yourself into Bucky’s arms. He’s hugging you back when your brain sends off warning bells, a response to a recharging sound. Before you can react, Steve throws you both down while yelling, “Get down!”

He stands in front of you both, shield up, as a shot rings out and blasts open the side of the train. The explosion sends Steve against the opposite wall and the shield lands at Bucky’s feet. The masked man’s weapon recharges as Bucky stands and shoots at him, and the force of the second shot sends Bucky flying backwards, out of the hole in the train. You scramble to your feet and towards the hole as Steve throws the shield and takes out the man. He reaches the hole right after you and you both yell “Bucky!” when you see him hanging onto a rail that’s hanging over the side of the tracks. You immediately ease yourself out of the train and towards Bucky, knowing that you were strong enough to grab him once. Steve stands right behind you, ready to assist.

“Hang on!” Steve yells as you ease towards Bucky. Bucky slides along the railing to get closer to you, and he begins reaching his hand out towards you.

“Grab my hand!” you yell out as you reach towards him, your voice full of panic. He reaches toward you and the rail beneath him snaps as he does, your fingers grazing as you lean forward when he begins to fall. Bucky lets out a heart wrenching scream as he falls, and you have to pull yourself back quickly, nearly falling after him. You clutch the side of the train, searching the ground below with your eyes and immediately begin sobbing as you hear his scream fade.

You vaguely notice Steve pulling you inside and holding you while you try to go jump out after Bucky, but you don’t remember much else. You hear someone tell you that Dr. Zola is captured and being taken in for questioning. Jones, maybe? You feel yourself get taken from one place to the next, passed off between members of the Howling Commandos until you end up back with Steve. You remember Steve clutching you as if you were going to disappear too, and a woman’s voice saying your name. Peggy, probably. She took you back to her room and helped you to take a bath, hoping to rid you of the chill that had settled within you the second you saw Bucky fall. She washed your hair and whispered comforting words to you, over and over, while you sat in the tub comatose and unresponsive. She settled you into her bed and stroked your hair until you fell asleep sobbing, tears sticking to your eyelashes like snowflakes.

You rolled over a few hours later to an empty bed in a room that wasn’t yours. You sat up and tried to orient yourself, the truth hitting you like a brick wall. Bucky was dead. You couldn’t save him. Pain gripped your heart again and you started to tear up until you remembered Steve. Knowing that he would be just as upset as you were, you went looking for him. He wasn’t in the room under his name or the room under your name, so you went down the hall to Bucky’s room which is where you had all been sleeping together just the night before. You reached for the handle on the door, but paused when you heard the faint sound of sobbing inside. Your heart broke even further. You twisted the handle and pushed the door open slowly, hearing the sound of the sobbing stop when you step inside. You look up and see Steve sitting on the bed with his back against the wall, holding one of Bucky’s shirts. You stood in the doorway staring at Steve, your lip beginning to tremble.

“C’mere, y/n,” he said as he held his arms open. You closed the door behind you and walked over to the bed, climbing onto it and sitting next to him. Steve wrapped his arms around you and you put your head on his chest, the sound of your sobs filling the room. He gripped you tightly and you sobbed out, “I couldn’t save him, Stevie, I couldn’t save him. I failed him.”

Steve pushed you back so that he could look at you and said, “Hey, no, no, no. You did everything you could, y/n. This is not your fault.”

Your crying began to subside and Steve continued on, “They captured Dr. Zola. He told us where the last base is. There’s a debriefing soon, if you want to come.”

You immediately responded, “Yes. I want to go to the debriefing and I want to go to that base. I’m going to kill them all, Steve. Every last one of them.”

Steve nodded his head. “I know, and you don’t have to do it alone. I’ll be by your side.”

You smile at him gratefully, glad that you at least had Steve through all of this.

Peggy came by soon after, worried and looking for you. When she saw you in Steve’s room, practicing your hand to hand combat with him, she didn’t seem too surprised. “The debriefing is starting soon. We can walk there together.”

You and Steve follow Peggy out of the room, and you jog to catch up to her. Slipping your arm though hers you mutter, “Thank you, Peggy. For everything. The serum, bringing back Steve, protecting us both… I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

Peggy looks at you with a smile. “You don’t have to thank me, y/n. You’re my friend.”

The three of you continue to the debriefing in comfortable silence, and you arrive to a flurry of activity. The room goes silent when you and Steve walk in, and the silence makes you nervous. As you walk by your fellow Howling Commandos, they reach out to squeeze your hand in support. Their friendship makes you grateful. There are no seats at the table, and Jones stands to offer you his, but you wave him off. You were way too anxious to sit around, your need for revenge making you fidgety.

“Schmidt belongs in a bug house. He thinks he’s god, and he’s willing to blow up half the world to prove it. Starting with the U.S.A.,” stated Colonel Philips.

Howard Stark walks in and sits saying, “He’s working with power beyond our capabilities. If he gets across the Atlantic, he’ll wipe out the entire Eastern seaboard in an hour.”

Everyone looks concerned and Jones speaks up. “How much time we got?”

Colonel Philips answers, “According to my new best friend, under 24 hours.”

“Where is he now?” someone asks.

Phillips holds up a picture and points to it. “Hydra’s last base, here. In the Alps. 500 feet below the surface.” He tosses the pictures onto the table in annoyance.

Morita asks, “So what are we supposed to do? It’s not like we can just knock on the front door.”

“Why not?” you ask.

Everyone turns to look at you like you’ve lost your mind, but then Steve speaks up. “No, she’s right. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

.  . .

The plan is for Steve to get our foot in the door, basically. He’s going in, guns blazing, and our roles come later. You stand on the side of a snowy mountain, waiting for the signal, and for the first time you realize that déjà vu can be a painful feeling. You’re pulled from your thoughts when someone yells out, “now!”

And you, Jones, and Dugan shoot a line into the side of the base, sliding down towards the large windows like you did a day ago on the train. You crash through, immediately opening fire on the room, taking out the masked men with ease. You watch Schmidt run away, and you fight your way over to follow him. Pinkerton tosses Steve his shield and he runs out of the room after Schmidt with you close behind him. The other Commandos break in, signaling for the assault team to follow. With the whole base under siege, it is a base full of madness and confusion. You and Steve follow Schmidt as closely as you can, since Schmidt is periodically turning to shoot at you with a vaporizer gun. You pass masked men as you go, shooting them quickly, and saving bullets when you can by using your knives. Schmidt rounds a corner and Steve throws his shield, and you hear it catch in a door up ahead. You start to pursue him, but you are both stopped by a man with a flamethrower. The heat and flames push you and Steve back, until you take cover in a doorway.

You are about to do something stupid, like sacrifice yourself so Steve can kill Schmidt, when the sound of gunshots rings out and the flames stop. You both creep out from the doorway to see Peggy, gun in hand. Steve approaches her. “You’re late.”

They look at each other for a moment before you yell out, “Steve!”

Realization dawns on Steve and he says, “right!” and squeezes Peggy’s arm in thanks before catching up with you. Steve pulls his shield from the door and you both slide through, hearing it shut behind you. You run through the hallways, in search of the hangar, knowing that’s where Schmidt was heading. You cross a threshold into the hangar, and the sight in front of you is overwhelming. You see a plane beginning to roll down the runway, and there are hundreds of men fighting between you and the plane. You and Steve look at each other and take off running, knocking out men and shooting them as you go. You both spot a length of chain above your heads, and you use the chain to swing over the length of fighting men. You both land safely on the other side and continue running after the plane, realizing that not even as super soldiers can you catch up to the plane.

You both stop and stare after the plane, Steve looking disappointed, but you with anger. The sound of a speeding car behind you causes you to whip your head around, and Phillips and Peggy are inside.

“Get in!” Phillips yells as he screeched to a halt, and you and Steve both jump in quickly.

The car speeds down the runway, Phillips using some sort of boost button to get you closer. Steve stands as the car approaches the plane, and he turns to help you stand, before yelling at Phillips to “keep it steady!”

Peggy yells out, “Wait!” from behind him and he turns, only for her to pull him into a kiss. You smile at them thinking, _about time_.

“Go get him,” She says fiercly.

Steve turns to Phillips and he shakes his head. “I’m not kissing you.”

You giggle and see that Steve is preparing to jump. You both crawl to the hood of the car, ducking low to avoid the propellers. Steve jumps and you jump immediately after, knowing that your window is small. Steve lands in the wheel, and you do too, except you start to slip down. You yell out when you realize, thinking _this is it, just like Bucky_ , but Steve grabs your arm and pulls you up onto the wheel with him. You thank him and hold on, waiting as the wheels are pulled back into the plane.

You climb off the wheels and onto a platform, looking around the space you were in. Fear gripped your heart when you realized that the small aircraft named after cities were actually bombs. You didn’t have much time to contemplate this, because the pilots entered the room to take off. You and Steve ducked low, and then jumped down to surprise them. You landed on the shoulders of one and plunged your knife into his neck, the pain of Bucky’s memory fueling you. Steve kicked one over, and you began fighting off the pilots together. One of the pilots ran to his plane, hoping to get away, but you opened the doors before he could get inside the craft and he and the bomb fell to their death.

You were fighting off two other pilots when you saw Steve on top of one of the bombs as it descended from Schmidt’s plane. You screamed out, “Steve! No!”

He couldn’t hear you, and one of the pilots took the opportunity to stab you in your side. You screamed out in pain, and blind rage took over, causing you to deliver blow after blow until he was past the point of death. You ran over to the controller and connected with the bomb. “Steve? Steve, can you hear me?”

Silence, and then, “Yeah I can hear you, y/n! I need to get back inside that plane!”

“Just fly back towards the plane, I’ll make sure I’m out of the way and the doors stay open!”

Moments later the bomb crashes back inside, Steve jumping out and running over to you. He notices you clutching the wound on your side and asks, “Woah, hey are you okay?”

You wave him off, “Steve, I’m fine, I just need a minute. Go kill that asshole.”

Steve looks at you hesitantly but runs off anyways, his need for revenge fueling him, too. You sink down next the controller clutching your side and trying to slow the bleeding. You knew from past injuries that the serum helped you heal faster, so you just need a few minutes to recover. You hear gunfire and fighting, and you hope that Steve is winning. As you are recovering, you feel the plane dip low and you fly to the ceiling, slamming your side on a beam. As you are tossed around, the plane levels out and you land back on the platform, scrambling away from the edge. You pull yourself up and begin walking to the control room, arriving and spotting Steve in the pilot’s chair.

“Is he dead? Is it over?”

“Schmidt’s dead, but it’s not over yet.” He says as he looks on at the map, a strange expression on his face.

“What, Steve? What is it?”

Steve sighs, “We have to go down with the ship. It’s the only way.”

You nod your head, realizing that this is it. Steve begins speaking into the radio, “This is Captain Rogers, do you read me?”

You hear Morita’s voice answer, “Captain Rogers, what is your lo-,“ and then he is cut off by the sound of Peggy’s voice.

“Steve, are you alright? Is y/n alright?”

“We’re fine, Schmidt’s dead!”

You hear relief in Peggy’s voice. “What about the plane?”

“That’s a little bit tougher to explain.” Steve sighs.

“Give me your coordinates, I’ll find you a safe landing site.”

“It’s not going to be a safe landing. We’ll have to force it down.”

“I’ll-I’ll get Howard on the line, he’ll know what to do.” Peggy replies, sounding panicked.

“Not enough time. This thing is moving too fast. Its heading for New York. We gotta put her in the water.”

You hear desperation in Peggy’s voice now. “Please don’t do this, we have time, we can work it out.”

Steve answers, “Right now we’re in the middle of nowhere, if we wait any longer, a lot of people are going to die.” There is silence and then Steve continues, “Peggy, this is our choice.”

He pulls the compass with Peggy’s picture out and puts it where he can see it. You sit on the floor next to him, clutching his hand in fear. He looks at you and hesitates, so you put your hand over his on the controller and whisper, “together.” Both of you sending the plane into the icy water below.

Steve chokes out, “Peggy.”

“I’m here,” she answers.

“I’m gonna need a rain check on that dance,” Steve says.

“Alright,” she replies, crying. “A week next Saturday, at the Stork Club.”

“You got it,” Steve replies with a small smile. Your heart aches for them both, but deep down you are relived that you are going to join Bucky soon.

“8 o clock on the dot, don’t you dare be late. Understood?” questions Peggy.

“You know, I still don’t know how to dance,” mentions Steve.

Peggy lets out a sad laugh and says, “All those nights dancing with y/n and Bucky and you still never learned?”

The ground is approaching you quickly now and you know that this is it, you’re going to be a trio again. Steve chuckles sadly and you know he realizes it’s over when says, “Have the band play something slow, I’d hate to step on your-“

. . .

You still remember the first time you smelled honeysuckle in person. You were 12 and visiting your Aunt on her farm in Georgia for the summer. You remember feeling so safe on her farm, not a care in the world. You spent the summer swimming in the lake with your brother, riding horses, and taking care of the animals. It was late one afternoon and you were laying in the grass near the edge of the lake, your wet skin drying in the warm summer sun. Your eyes were closed and you were beginning to doze when you felt a tickle on your nose, followed by a sweet smell. You opened your eyes to see your brother standing above you, a small flower in his hand. You sat up.

“What is that?” you asked.

“Honeysuckle,” he replied. “If you pinch the little green stem at the end and pull slowly, you can eat the liquid that gathers there.”

You look at him with skepticism until he demonstrates, and he holds the stem with a bead of liquid out to you. You place it on your tongue and instantly love the sweet taste that blossoms there.

“That’s good!” you exclaim.

Your brother smiles and hands you a few of the tiny flowers, your small hands making quick work of the stems. He laughed at your excitement over the tiny flower, and told you that the sun setting over the lake meant dinner was nearly ready. You walked back to the house, hand in hand, realizing that honeysuckle was the mystery smell you noticed on Bucky when he would hug you hello.

Years later you realized that the only time you ever felt as safe as you did that summer on the farm was when you were wrapped up in Bucky’s arms.

. . .

Your eyes flutter open and then shut again, adjusting to the light of the room. You open them again, slowly, and you turn your head to your left to look around you. Your eyes land on a familiar head of dirty blond hair, slumped over on the bed and snoring softly.

“Steve?” you question, voice raspy.

Steve’s head lifts and his eyes light up in excitement. “y/n! Wait, don’t speak.”

He hands you a glass of water and you sip slowly, trying to adjust your vocal chords to speech. “Where am I? What happened?” Flashes of memories come to your mind and you question further, “We survived the plane crash? Where’s Peggy?”

“y/n…” Steve hesitates.

“What? What is it, Stevie?”

“It’s not 1945 anymore.” Your head spins with his statement, thinking you’ve been comatose for a few months. But what Steve tells you is much worse. “It’s 70 years later. We were frozen for over 70 years.”

Before you can ask anything further, a man in a black trench coat and an eye patch strolls in, taking note that you are conscious.

“Good. You’re awake.”

“Who are you?” you question.

“I’m Nick Fury, I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. The world needs you both, it’s time for you to come back to work.”

 

_Fin._


End file.
